Homeless but not blue

26 December 2006 (adik)

LEGAZPI CITY—They’ve lost their homes but they refuse to have a blue Christmas.

The 145 families displaced by Supertyphoon “Reming” and who are temporarily housed at the Bitano Elementary School in this city have found a way to celebrate Christmas.

On Saturday, a group of housewives talked and laughed while they shredded stalks of malunggay (horseradish tree) they had planned to cook in coconut cream.

“Wala kaming pambili ng lechon, kaya ito na lang (We don’t have money to buy roast pig, so we’re serving this). What matters is that we are all together,” said Lea Agripa, an evacuee and one of the camp leaders in the shelter.

Cleofo Moyo, another camp leader said the families shared whatever they had for the simple celebration, like Bicol Express (a pork dish cooked with siling labuyo (chili peppers) and coconut milk and other homemade delicacies.

Each family from Barangay Bitano also cooked one kilo of rice and donated a portion of their rationed relief goods which would be put together in a raffle during the party.

“We also want to feel the spirit of Christmas despite the things we’ve lost,” said Moyo.

Since electricity had been restored at the shelter on Friday, Agripa decided to borrow a sound system. “We plan to have parlor games for the children, sporting events for the teenagers and a lot of singing and dancing,” she said. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon